The Cool Kid Works at Claire's
by SuperFreakeh
Summary: Dave Strider doesn't hide the fact that he works at the girliest store at the outlet mall. If anyone questions him on it, he claims irony made him do it. But there are other reasons, and the kid with the nice ass that works at the Lucky's Jeans across the walk has too much to do with it. Rated K with mild language. Oneshot. (?)
1. Chapter 1

Let's be honest, you didn't sign up for this job because you had a passion for girls' accessories, or even because you were flamingly homosexual.

It's because you visited the outlet mall one fateful day, just out to buy some kickass, comfy-as-fuck Lucky jeans. And because _he_ was your cashier.

Jet black hair, a crooked but friendly smile, and a way of initiating sparkling conversation with you had you hooked.

One look and you knew you'd find a part-time job to be near him. You just never knew how near you could get without him being suspicious, so you settled for a job across the street from Lucky Brand Jeans.

And that job landed you here. In Claire's. You come into contact with more pink than most men will pass by in their entire lives. You are a gladiator of the barrettes and a knight of the hair extensions. You also have become very versed in the latest of One Direction and Justin Beiber.

You are a Claire's employee. And though you tell everyone who questions you—an attractive, high school blond kid known to have enough money to buy out the movie theater for your birthday—that it's due to irony, but only your sister knows it's because of _him_.

That annoyingly adorable Lucky cashier.

_Hello, my name is: John_.

John it is, and you hope by this small act of suffering on your part that you can learn more about him.

**Is it any good? It might not be a oneshot for long... -SF**

**EDIT: Thanks to your reviews, I've decided to make this into a thing! Count on at least 5 chapters of moderate-length mayhem. Hopefully I can get back to an update schedule of once every Sunday. Help me out by layin' down more reviews and positive motivation! :3**


	2. Chapter 2

You had a funny feeling when you woke up.

Maybe it's because your cousin had told you that if you see somebody in your dreams, it means they were thinking about you.

Maybe it's because you woke up with a hard-on for the stranger in your dream.

You could only remember a little bit of it: a giant chess board that melted into an active volcano, and you falling hundreds of feet to the steamy ground below before being caught just in time by a figure in a red cape. You only caught a glint of gold before strong hands lifted you into the air and you woke up.

You get the feeling the stranger was quite dreamy (pun intended) but probably only that. Probably only a figment of your imagination.

You heard a faint knock on the door and realized your father was probably about two seconds away from busting in to see if you were awake. Now remembering your embarrassing morning situation, you scrambled to cover yourself in a mass of blankets before the door slammed open with a sickening _whack_.

You jumped despite the regularity of this scene.

"Good morning, son," boomed a voice, loud but kind in tone. You grumbled a greeting and burrowed deeper into your plush nest. "I see you're awake." More grumbling and burrowing. You were beginning to overheat, but at least you wouldn't have to explain to your father just what kind of dream you had last night. The tall man in the door furrowed his brows slightly in acceptance of his son's stubbornness. Still staying calm, he announced that "Special breakfast will be waiting for you downstairs, John," and you groaned inwardly.

Sure, it was the first day at a new school, and parents had to celebrate that. You get it. But you're not ready to be bullied into being a wallflower at this new school on an excruciatingly full stomach. Nope. If you were gonna fall hard again this year, you were gonna do it without throwing up every last cinnamon roll you managed to cram in on the five minute bus ride. How were you supposed to know the mile run would be the first thing of the day?

So you thought to yourself that at least you learned _something_ from shitty public school in Washington.

Well, if worse comes to worst, you thought as you slipped on your nicest pair of Lucky jeans (hey—just because were prepared to be a loser didn't mean you had to _dress_ like you were), at least you made some friends at your workplace and online. Karkat at Lucky Jeans has a bad attitude but you think he can tolerate you, and your cousin introduced you to her friend Rose, and since that first chat six months ago, you've been great friends.

You sighed, pulling on a comfy t-shirt and zip-up hoodie. You won't be completely alone this time.

Your thoughts turned to the ever-fading dream of yours, but after all this depressing thinking you've given up on it. It'll go away on its own. Besides, what would the first day at Jackson English Preparatory Academy be without at least one awkward encounter?


	3. Chapter 3

_He's the only kid not wearing a uniform._

_Holy fuck, come see this. Moron's sticking out like a boner in the snow. _

_How could he be so oblivious?_

_Did he make his own clothes?_

_Oh my God, I would _hate_ to be him…_

Yeah. You hear the comments and see the looks. Poor kid is probably more isolated than ever right now. This is an east coast prep school, and it's truthfully very brutal if you don't conform to the way at least one other person looks.

You had to admit, though, those jeans did look good on him.

You would know, you saw him buy them on your first-ever break at your new job. You were perusing the pretzel stands, trying to figure out which came with the most butter, when you saw through the glass a little ways away a dorky smile purchasing some damn hot jeans. Okay, the distance didn't really allow for clear indication of whether the jeans were hot or not, but you kinda figured anything would look good on him. You bought your pretzel ("slippery as a virgin's ass on a Sunday") and hunkered down in a bench across from the store. Through your shades, you saw a peppy boy almost burst out of the store with happiness. Awh. He really loved his clothes.

And so concluded your first day on the job and your second encounter with him where you were less than twenty feet away from each other. The first being when you fell in love with him.

Rose said you were being stupid, love isn't an impulse buy, you can't decide to fall in love with someone right before you purchase your sugary cereals, Dave. You can decide to buy a Coke but not a boyfriend. You think that's what she said. You kind of tuned her out most of the time, but she seems pretty content with that for now. You two are part of the same circle in school, so you heard enough of her there.

Ah, but the poor guy's getting all sorts of unfriendly stares. You wonder why he automatically cowers and crouches instead of tries to make an impression. Rose would say he's an introvert, but you know better. Everyone holds an extrovert inside them. All you have to do is break it out of them.

That's right…break.

You start to feel bad for him, John, the object of your affections, but you're also intrigued. Now, you wouldn't sacrifice your own social standing for a new kid like him just to help him along on his first day, but you would send a freshman to go do it.

You send a text no more than three words long and in no time at all a skinny, freckled kid shows up next to your spot next to a tree in the courtyard.

He looks eager to please.

"Yes, Sir Strider?"

"It's Sir Strider the Heavy-Blade now."

"Of course." He tilts his head, barely missing a beat, and indicates the need for your instructions.

"See the kid in the jeans? No uniform?" You vaguely point in John's direction. The kid immediately spots him and barely holds together a smirk. "Funny, I know. I need you to…"

Huh. What could you do? You could embarrass him further, that would take no effort, or you could mess with his head a little, let him get a little glimpse of the Strider psyche before you shut him down and own him like the mess of feelings he's about to become.

You instruct the boy to introduce him to Rose.

That'll mess him up enough.

The boy walks off, doesn't make a beeline for John (because that would be way too obvious, and Sir Strider the Heavy-Blade instructs his pages well), and a few minutes later you creep your eyes over to John's hiding spot half-behind a stone column. The freshman talks easily to him, and he soaks it in like the new student sponge he it. He's pulled by the boy off to the library where they'll find Rose.

You shoot Rose a quick text: _my baby daddy is comin to meet u so make us look good_

That should do it. You lean back into the leaves of the tree next to you and observe all the students running around. You came here last year and you'll be here another year more, but after that, you would get to leave these upper class douchebags and work on your movies in Texas, with your Bro.

The ancient bell rings and some of the seniors spot you and will want to make hallway conversation as you all head to the first class of the day. You meet them halfway, the summer gossip already being spread around.

You think it's a little sad that this is what you've been forced to become entertained by.

You hope John makes this year a little more interesting.


End file.
